


Exhortation

by Dreamelilly018



Series: Human Apprentice, Luz Noceda [2]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Chronic Pain, Deaged Character, Episode s01e02: Wiitches Before Wizards, Gen, Guardian Angels, Guide, Nightmares, Pain, Younger character, dream - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29077830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamelilly018/pseuds/Dreamelilly018
Summary: After a nightmare, Luz has doubts of her apprenticeship until she remembers what she was told before she awoke.
Relationships: Hooty & Luz Noceda, Luz Noceda & The Titan
Series: Human Apprentice, Luz Noceda [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2128671
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Exhortation

**May 21, 2020**

_Blinking her eyes open, Luz found herself in an unfamiliar place. Nothing in the area around her looked like the closet they had fallen asleep earlier. It looked like the landscape was only composed of sickly nauseating stench and cold, dizzying blackness. From behind her, out of sight, she could hear waves crashing against rocks. Knowing that ocean meant sun and the light meant safety, the ten-year-old turned around, hoping to find safety with others. But before she could even walk a foot away, a girl, with minty green hair and brown roots appeared, seizing her by her wrist. With a panicked look, she tugged her back towards the blackness, back to where a low rumbling was coming._

_“What are you doing?” she demanded, digging her heels into the ground but found her gaining ground with no struggle. The girl’s face was dark and pale with horror, as if she had witness the death of someone close. “Release me! I don’t want to go into the dark! It’s scary.”_

_“No, we musn’t go that way,” she gasped, voice shrill, terrified and determined. “We need to go to where the sun cannot reach. If the sun catches we, cannot escape or run away!”_

_“Mija!” The distant, worried voice of her mother startled her. It sounded close enough that she could almost picture her. Her Mami was near the beach. She must have wandered off by accident. “Mija, where are you? BeBe? This isn’t funny, Luz Elena Noceda! If you don’t come out now, you will be grounded until the Day of Unity!”_

_“W-w-what?” Numbness settling on her, Luz gave no protest against the girl, surprised. Her mother, even during her worse moments, never called her by her full name. The only time she had done that was when she had been barely a toddler and almost got ran over on the highway when wandering so close. “W-w-why am I here?_

_The girl pause and released her hand. With a horrified scream and one desperate plea at her, she disappeared, shaking and trembling into the shadows. With the girl gone and now her alone, Luz didn’t know what to do. The only thing she knew was to remain where she was lost, and hope that help would soon arrive._

_“Mami! Mami!” She let out a wail, hiding her face in her hands as she sank onto the damp, sickening ground. Knees pressing to her chest, Luz shook, too scared to raise her head. “Mami, please help me! Mami, I’m scared! Make it stop, Mami!”_

_“Run,” a soft, almost silent voice whispered in her ear, startling her. “Run, Luz!"_

_Breath caught in her throat and body frozen, the ten-year-old cracked open a single hazel-brown eye. Through her misty gaze, she watched as bright light, swirling and crackling approached her. A deep, overbearing pressure of danger swept her senses as the light began to transform._

_The light, in place a man stepped into the darkness, pushing it back, removing her from safety. The man, his fin deathly pale and smelling of rot approached, eye sockets hollow and dark. Stopping a few feet from her, he held on one clawed hand, beckoning for her to approach him. From behind her a hard cry of pure fury sounded.  
_

_Ignoring the fear bubbling into her stomach, Luz scrambled to her feet, taking a hesitant step forward, towards the outreached hand. “Y-y-you’re not a bad person?” she asked in a quiet voice. “Like the ones that my Mami warned about.”_

_“Of course not, Human,” the man assured, smiling. Teeth flashing, Luz shuddered how sharp they looked. “Trust me,” he whispered, sending a shiver down her spine._

_“Don’t trust him,” the voice cautioned. “He is not what he appears. The man bares no light.”_

_Stomach dropping, Luz took a step backwards, unprepared for the man to lunge forward. Letting out a scream, she landed hard on the ground as a flash of bright, pure white roared over her. Barely supporting her shaking body, her body went numb as two creatures, one being of light and another of darkness, were rolling around on the ground, throwing bits and pieces of debris and rubble in the air._

_“Remember the true being of light,” the voice whispered. “Remember who holds the true power of light.”_

_“Wha-“ Stomach lurching, Luz felt the breath rush out of her as she fell into a bit of blackness._

***

Luz woke up with a gasp, eyes flying open. It wasn’t the fear that coursed through her veins or the fluffy creature pressing into the crook of her neck, rather the ache that settled into her bones. Stifling a whine of pain, she sat up, flinching at the spaamsing protest from her stiffened muscles. Gingerly lifting the towel off her legs and propping herself up against the wall, she took a moment to adjust to her pains, trying to slowly work he way up to standing.

‘ _Five minutes,_ ’ she told herself, rubbing her hazel-brown eyes sleepily. ‘ _Five minutes to sit and adjust. Than you have to stand up_.’

Relaxing her shoulders and moving her gaze to face forward, she stared at the wall of the closet. The swirling patterns of stars and galaxies made her head ache and wonder where they had come from. From what little she could remember last night, there was nothing but plain walls with dirt and grime. Why did this, hidden away, place have wall paper while the rest of the living area didn’t?

Finally, realizing that the fluffy creature and King from earlier, was gone, she began to prepare herself to rising off the floor. While it still appeared to be dark and almost no outside light, the pain and her stiffness would cause her to be slow, making her morning routine long and hard just like back in the Human Realm. But unlike in the Human Realm, she wasn’t able to smuggle 800m pain medicine to her bedroom on a weekly basis. There would only be rationed, one pill a day, of the 100 mg before that dwindled to nothing, leaving her on her own to deal with the pain.

Silently opening the closet door and stepping out, Luz gripped onto her spare clothes as she took the steps, slowly and shaky, down to the main floor. Ducking into the bathroom and using her phone as light, she found the packet of spare matches to light the candle. Turning her phone’s flashlight off, she went over to the window, drawing the curtains open.

“It wasn’t a dream,” she reassured herself once she saw the familiar, rocky landscape from last night. “I am a Demon Realm. I am going to train as a Witch’s apprentice. I am going to find a cure for my illness, and follow my dreams.”

Glancing down at where her clothes, a simple skirt and t-shirt, rested on the edge of the cupboard, Luz allowed her shoulders to drop, gripping onto the window still to keep herself standing straight. Glancing outside, the ten-year-old flinched at the large, sea creature staring at her. “H-Hello,” she said in a soft, hesitant voice, fighting a grimace as she gave a wave.

“Good morning,” the sea monster greeted, waving back.

Taking a step back and pulling the curtains close, Luz almost screamed when she found a long, tube like creature staring at her. Heart thumping in her chest and hands tightening into fists, she froze. “W-w-what,” she gasped, eyes widening. “H-h-how?”

“Hi, Luz,” the door knocker, Hooter, chirped. “How did you sleep last night?”

“I slept well,” she said, cautiously approaching to where she sat her day clothes. “I am not trying to sound rude but can you please leave. I need to change and don’t want to change in front of someone, who I think, is male.”

“Of course.” Pulling out of the bathroom and leaving the teen alone, Hooty disappeared back to the front of the house.

Turning to face the propped up mirror, Luz leaned against the bucket, body shaking as she took a calming breath. Even with her entire body aching and her muscles stiff, the ten-year-old knew she couldn’t let it hold her back.

“I can do it,” she said, staring at her reflection in the mirror, sides rising and falling with a slight gasp. “I can learn to be a witch, overcome my own pain, and figure out what caused my illness. Soon, hopefully at the end of the summer, I will be like others my age.”

_‘I will be…’_ Luz began, recalling her dream suddenly. _‘I will remember who bares the light and holds the true power,”_ she corrected herself, confused _. ‘Whoever this person is, I will find what I am looking for.’_


End file.
